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Tag: C3

One of the great wheatpasters at Upfest this year was C3 with her distinctive red haired characters hand painted onto written paper. I must have paused to chat with her and D7606 several times over the course of the two days. I think she told me that she had only pasted a couple of pieces this year. I could only find these two, and both are winners in my book.

C3, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The art of wheatpasting at Upfest is a delicate balance between finding the right time to go out – the festival organisers are not too keen, because they are responsible for keeping the street furniture clear during the three days – and finding the right place that isn’t over-crowded. Some pasters simply slap their work on any available space. Others like C3 and D7606 are rather more discerning. Love these two paste ups.

What a treat. Longstanding readers will know that I am fond of wheatpastes and this little bricked up window at the end of North Street was an absolute treasure trove.

D7606, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

At the top is a D7606 telephone box with David Bowie strutting his stuff. I have written about a larger version of this in Stokes Croft in a previous post. All around this vibrant paste up is a collage of black and white pieces by D7606 and C3.

Losthills and C3, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Underneath the telephone box sitting snugly side by side is another playful Jake the dog by Losthills, this time dressed up as a wonderful hippie. On Jake’s right is a subtle but lovely paste up by C3…but there is more…

Losthills, C3 and Jimzina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

…pan back slightly and to the right of the C3 is another Jimzina menu-woman to add to the several I have already posted, and let’s not ignore the Goopmasta sticker (more from him in a couple of posts). All in all a lovely wall.

Regular readers will know that I am particularly fond of paste ups and the artists who create them, such as Kid Crayon, Tian, 23 Magpies, D7606 and Phoebe New York. Another wonderful and highly distinctive member of this genre is C3 whose works can be seen not only in Bristol from this year’s upfest, but also all over the popular street art areas of London.

C3, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Her work is always thoughtfully designed and presented cleverly. In this case, her subject shares a space with Phoebe New York and a tin of Stella Artois. Placement is everything for wheatpasters. This is like a little shrine.

C3 is a street artist I admire very much. The distinctive cut out pasteups C3 produces were very much in evidence at Upfest along the hotly contested spots of North Street. There wasn’t a biography of C3 in the Upfest programme, so I am not certain that the works were entirely official, which in my mind makes them all the better.

C3, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The work of C3 will often feature, as in this wheatpaste, a backdrop of newspaper, typically with an image of a woman in black ink and red hair. Instantly recognisable and each telling a story of love or heartbreak. Since seeing C3’s work in Bristol, I have photographed a whole lot more in Shoreditch, which I will share soon. Worth a quick squint at C3’s website too.